My Favorite Movies: #19—Young Frankenstein

19. Young Frankenstein (1974) 
Genre: Comedy 

Director: Mel Brooks 
Writers: Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder 
Stars: Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman 
Awards: 2 Oscar nominations—Adapted Screenplay, Sound 
Metacritic score: 80 
IMDB Ranking: n/a

Mel Brooks has made some of the funniest movies of all time—I'm confident that Blazing Saddles would appear on at least one friend's list of favorites—but for me, none of his movies is more clever, more creative, or more brilliantly filmed than Young Frankenstein.

Brooks takes the familiar horror story and twists it with just enough goofiness, silliness, and absurdity that you both take it seriously as well as laugh at the insanity of the whole thing. Gene Wilder, looking like a young, mad Einstein, is Frederick Frankenstein, a legitimate medical doctor who only wants to erase any memories of his infamous grandfather. He goes so far as to insist that his name be pronounced "Frahnk-en-steen."

But curiosity and the desire for power over life and death draw him back to his grandfather's castle in Transylvania ("Pardon me boy, is this the Transylvania Station?"). There he discovers a bug-eyed crackpot minion, Igor (Marty Feldman, and pronounced "EYE-gore"),  a voluptuous young female assistant, Inga (Teri Garr at her most va-va-voomy), and the frightening Frau Blucher, played to the scenery-chewing pinnacle by Cloris Leachman.

The plot is identical to the classic original movie—Frederick studies his grandfather's notes, sews together pieces of corpses, uses an "Abby Normal" brain, then deals with the aftermath. The fun is in the new twists Brooks and crew puts into the film at every successive step.

After beginning an affair with Inga, Frederick's fiancee, played with madcap brilliance by Madeline Kahn, shows up at the castle. She ends up falling for the monster, however, which leads to a series of lewd and hilarious scenes. So many of the set pieces are comedy classics, such as "Igor, get the bags," "Puttin' on the Ritz," the blind hermit (an uncredited Gene Hackman), the angry villagers (led by Kenneth Mars, the local magistrate with prosthetic arm issues), "HE VAS MY BOYFRIEND!" and last but certainly not least, "Oooooooooooh, sweet mystery of life, at last I've found you!"

If you've seen the movie as many times as I have, each one of those references should have set you off in fits of laughter. If you've never seen Young Frankenstein, I feel sorry for you, because you haven't experienced one of the funniest films ever made. It is, like the Frankenstein story itself, a work of mad genius.

My Favorite Movies: #20—Close Encounters of the Third Kind

20. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Genre: Sci-Fi Drama

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writer: Steven Spielberg

Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon

Awards: 2 Oscars—Cinematography, Sound Effects

Metacritic score: 90

IMDB Ranking: n/a

Are there any other movies in which the entirety of the emotional impact of the film can be communicated with five simple musical notes? Steven Spielberg's sci-fi masterpiece is a great movie for a variety of reasons, but for me, it was my first experience with a film that transformed my way of looking at both film and the world around me.

Richard Dreyfuss plays Roy Neary, an Indiana electrical worker whose encounters with what appears to be alien spacecraft causes an obsession that drives away his wife and children as he gives up his whole life to discover the secret behind his experiences. We see the evidence of worldwide conspiracy as well as the joy of discovery through his eyes.

Melinda Dillon play Jillian Guiler, whose young son Barry is abducted by the aliens in one of the more terrifying scenes in the movie. She is the foil to Roy's obsessive need to know what is happening; although she follows Roy in his journey, she doesn't care about the why or the what—she just wants to get her son back.

Legendary French director Francois Truffaut is Claude Lacombe, the mysterious international leader of an organization that has apparently prepared for this level of alien contact for decades. In a way, he is like Neary in his desire for knowledge, but he is already privy to the secrets that keep Roy awake at night.

All these paths converge in a tense race up the narrow slope of Devil's Tower national monument in Wyoming, where the international team, along with the U.S. military, has prepared for the alien's arrival. The special effects for the climactic series of contacts were jaw-dropping in 1977, and for the most part, still hold up well today. Spielberg builds layer upon layer of revelation at the end of the movie, the awe and wonder of the audience reflected on screen by the film's characters.

I was too young to see Jaws in theaters (my parents wouldn't let me see "PG" rated movies at age 7!), so CE3K was my first experience with a Steven Spielberg movie. I knew, even at nine years old, that I was seeing the work of a genius. The characteristic Spielberg style—seeing the story unfold through the eyes of an "everyman" persona—was present, with the escalating levels of tension as the stakes grow higher, the risks potentially fatal, and the final revelation astounding.

I became as obsessed with this movie, as well as the idea of legitimate alien contact, as Roy Neary himself. I had posters from the movie all over my wall, as well as hand-drawn art of the alien mother ship. Unable to play piano, I nonetheless plunked out the familiar five-note anthem that has become so iconic (thank you, God, for the genius that is John Williams). Forty years later, this movie still has the power to make me feel like that amazed nine-year-old who knew he was watching something truly extraordinary.

My Favorite Movies: #21—Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

21. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Genre: Sci-Fi Action/Adventure

Director: Nicholas Meyer

Writers: Harve Bennett, Gene Roddenberry

Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Ricardo Montalban

Awards: Saturn Awards—Actor (Shatner), Director

Metacritic score: 71

IMDB Ranking: n/a

In the pantheon of "sequels that far eclipsed their original films," Star Trek II is right up there with The Empire Strikes Back and Superman II. I would argue, however, that Star Trek II deserves the nod in this category because a) Empire was the sequel to Star Wars, a great movie in its own right, and b) Superman I was just okay but not the unmitigated disaster that was Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

The Wrath of Khan is so good that Trekkies forgave and forgot how bad the first movie in the film franchise was. The original cast of the TV show is all present, and each actor gives perhaps his and her finest performance in the most serious of all the original series movies.

Best of all are the scenes where William Shatner and Ricardo Montalban take turns seeing who can devour the most scenery. The amazing thing is how well this works within the context of the movie and everything that is at stake for these characters.

The special effects are a bit outdated to modern audiences since the film was made in 1982, and younger audiences who think "old Star Trek" means Picard and Data may find the whole thing a little over the top, but to Gen-Xers like me whose entry into science fiction were Star Trek reruns on weekend TV, this movie will always be a timeless classic. 

My Favorite Movies: #22—Ratatouille

22. Ratatouille (2007)

Genre: Animated Comedy

Director: Brad Bird

Writer: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava

Stars: Patton Oswalt, Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, Janeane Garofalo, Peter O’Toole, Brian Dennehy

Awards: 1 Oscar—Animated Feature           

Metacritic score: 96

IMDB Ranking: n/a

This often-overlooked gem from Disney/Pixar is a love letter to the joy of food and the passion for cooking as an expression of true creativity. More than that, however, it is a profound statement on the nature of art and the ability of those who come from the most humble of backgrounds to create something truly extraordinary.

No chef could come from a more humble place than Remy (Patton Oswalt), a rat from the French countryside whose love for cooking and desire to learn from his idol, Chef Gusteau (Brad Garrett), leads him to Gusteau's famous restaurant in Paris.

The restaurant has fallen on hard times, however; Gusteau has died, and in his place, Chef Skinner (Ian Holm) has allowed Gusteau's former reputation to decline into average, forgettable cuisine in the restaurant as a front for Skinner's profitable line of cheap frozen foods.

Remy ends up befriending the hapless garbage boy, Linguini (Lou Romano), whose complete ineptitude in the kitchen contrasts with Remy's genius. But because a rat can't cook in a human kitchen, Remy hides under Linguini's toque and manipulates his actions like a puppeteer by pulling on various strands of hair. Remy's new creations eventually attract the attention of Paris's most cruel and dismissive food critic, Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole).

What transpires from Ego's terrifying challenge ("Tell him I want whatever he dares serve me...tell him to 'hit me with his best shot'!") is one of the most heartwarming expressions of the true food lover and the reason why we have so many television show devoted to the art, craft, and science of cooking: food connects us to our past and reminds us of the people we love the most.

Food is about so much more than just eating or cooking. It's about the relationships we make both within the kitchen and around the dining table. It's recipes that are handed down in families through multiple generations and the love that we put into preparing meals for our families and friends. It was a big deal when Jesus ate meals with prostitutes and tax collectors—it meant he accepted them as friends and welcomed them into fellowship with him. Food is what binds us together in loving relationships.

Director Brad Bird is better known for the Pixar masterpiece The Incredibles (and rightly so), but this movie is another reason why Bird's work stands out even among the brilliant artists at Pixar. The supporting cast of voice artists is characteristically outstanding, as is usually the case with Pixar movies, most notably Janeane Garofalo (Collette) and Brian Dennehy (Django).

For me, every moment of this movie is joyful, but none more so than Anton Ego's review of his marvelous meal at Gusteau's. His commentary speaks to the heart of every creative soul as well as the critics who take easy shots at their work, and it is the theme at the heart of this wonderful, amazing movie.

My Favorite Movies: #23—The Cutting Edge

23. The Cutting Edge (1992)

Genre: Romantic Drama

Director: Paul Michael Glaser

Writer: Tony Gilroy

Stars: D. B. Sweeney, Moira Kelly, Roy Dotrice, Terry O’Quinn

Awards: none

IMDB user rating: 6.9/10

IMDB Ranking: n/a

This is the one you're all going to roast me about, but I don't care. This movie is at the top of my "Guilty Pleasures" list. It's an opposites-attract romance with stock characters and a completely predictable plot, but I don't care...I love it anyway.

Doug Dorsey (D.B. Sweeney) is the best player on the U.S. Olympic hockey team with a bright future in the NHL ahead of him. Kate Mosely (Moira Kelly) is favored to win the Gold Medal for pairs figure skating. But a head injury ends Doug's career in hockey, while Kate's inability to trust a male partner prevents her from winning the coveted gold.

Her skating coach, a Russian named Anton Pamchenko (Roy Dotrice) realizes that no one in competitive figure skating will work with Kate. He also knows that Doug has no future in hockey, but he can still skate like a champion. Irresistible force, meet immovable object. Harsh words are exchanged. Hateful glances resound through the rink. Tempers flare as both partners resist the inevitable attraction between them.

One of the best things about a guilty movie pleasure is that it's the cinematic equivalent of comfort food—you know it's not inherently good, and you also know that it's not good for you, but it just makes you feel so wonderful as you're partaking of it. The Cutting Edge is my favorite bit of romantic comfort food.

It's as cheesy as it sounds, but let's be honest...most of us love cheese. The appeal of this movie in a general sense is the chemistry between Sweeney and Kelly, two likeable and appealing actors who give their all to these characters, as well as the fun of watching the predictable beats unfold: a) meet cute; b) hate each other; c) crush on each other; d) fight; e) make up. 

But in a more personal sense, my affinity for the film is connected to a specific time in my life. I was a pretty lonely guy in my teens and twenties. I spent most of my high school years chasing a girl who I couldn't quite catch, and my entire undergrad term in college was alone and dateless (not even one...I'm not exaggerating). I had a brief relationship with a wonderful young woman when I was in grad school, but my own shortcomings ended that. This movie came out in the Spring of 1992, many months before my next real-life relationship would begin.

What I'm saying is that for a lonely young man with an excess of unfulfilled romantic longings, this movie hit me right in my sweet spot. Watching these appealing characters, who you want to see both fulfill their Olympic dreams and realize their love for each other, go through the familiar beats of a predictable romantic plot was, at the time, almost like experiencing it for myself.

So take your shots, O cynical and jaded Internet hoi polloi...I won't apologize for loving this deep-dish cheese pizza with extra cheese and fried cheese sticks on the side. It makes me happy inside!

My Favorite Movies: #24—Almost Famous

24. Almost Famous (2000)

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Director: Cameron Crowe

Writer: Cameron Crowe

Stars: Billy Crudup, Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Jason Lee, Frances McDormand, Zooey Deschanel, Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Awards: 1 Oscar—Original Screenplay

Metacritic score: 90   

IMDB Ranking: n/a

Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical film about a 15-year-old writing prodigy who spends several weeks on the road with an up-and-coming '70s rock band is filled with wonderful performances that evoke a strong sense of nostalgia for both the music we loved growing up as well as the bittersweet taste of the first sense of romantic love in our teenage years.

Crowe's alter ego, a young man named William (Patrick Fugit), writes freelance articles for Cream magazine under the frenetic counter-cultural tutelage of the magazine's founder, Lester Bangs (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who steals every scene he's in). Bangs sends him to cover the local Black Sabbath performance, but unable to get into the concert, William hooks up with the opening act, Stillwater (an amalgam of The Eagles and The Allman Brothers Band, according to Crowe).

Stillwater is a band on the rise, but they are plagued by bruised egos—the band's lead singer, Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee), never thinks he's getting the attention he deserves—and resentments, most notably the awareness of lead guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) that he's better than the rest of his bandmates. When William comes into the mix, now writing a feature for Rolling Stone magazine, they vacillate between wanting the positive exposure William can give them with fearing that he will tell the truth about who they really are.

This movie, at its heart, is about being honest about who you are. William is the only honest character around the band. His love/crush is groupie Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), who is never honest about her real name or actual age (though she does reveal these to William, who is the catalyst for honesty). Jeff and Russell refuse to tell William the truth about almost anything, which leads to a harrowing yet hilarious airing of brutal honesty in the midst of an airplane flight that is apparently going to crash in a thunderstorm. When they all land safely, they are left to deal with the aftermath of the truth.

It's also a movie about the love of music. Lester Bangs waxes rhapsodic to William about what's both good and bad about rock music. The groupies insist they follow the band for the music, not the sex or the association with fame. William wants to be a music writer because he loves the music above all. Lee and Crudup really perform the music on screen, and you can tell how much they love the experience. Toward the end of the movie, when Russell finally allows William to honesty interview him, after all they've been through in the weeks before, what they talk about it why they love the music.

William is a character driven by female forces beyond his control. The good in him is driven by his mother, played with characteristic brilliance by Frances McDormand. His love for rock and roll is inspired by his sister (Zooey Deschanel), who leaves William her rock album collection as she runs away from home. His heart yearns for Penny, but she's in love with Russell, who's also married, and the whole thing leads to an airing of honesty that is both painful and liberating. Even while on the road, he stays in the same room as the band's groupies (and what 15-year-old boy wouldn't think of that as a slice of heaven?).

I love this movie because it makes me wish that at age 18, I had been a member of a rock band that threw all their gear in the back of a van and traveled the country playing gigs for food money and comped rooms until we made the big time. That's the dream. The reality, however, is that if that had actually happened for me, I would be the drummer they found dead in his hotel room about 37 minutes into the VH1 Behind the Music documentary: "He had choked to death on his own vomit." Not exactly the epitaph I'm looking for. But the dream is still enticing as a dream, and Almost Famous lets us all tag along for the ride.

My Favorite Movies: #25—Dan in Real Life

25. Dan in Real Life (2007)

Genre: Romantic Drama

Director: Peter Hedges

Writers: Pierce Gardner, Peter Hedges

Stars: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, Dianne Wiest, John Mahoney

Awards: none

Metacritic score: 65

IMDB Ranking: n/a

I'm a sucker for romantic comedies—it's actually my favorite genre of movie, although the past year has kept those DVDs on the shelf for the time being—and this is one of the most recent additions to my favorites list.

Steve Carell is a widower with three daughters who falls in love with his brother's (Dane Cook) new girlfriend (Juliette Binoche...who wouldn't?) over a long family weekend at their parents' (Mahoney & Wiest) beach house. All the brothers and sisters, along with their kids, are in the house, and the dynamic of the large extended family is the background for the unfolding of the complicated romance.

The fun in the movie is watching Carell and Binoche, who have an amazing chemistry together, resist their attraction to each other for the sake of the unwitting brother, who despite being played by dude-bro comedian Cook is really a decent, caring guy. The problem is that Carell and Binoche are truly meant to be together, but they can't do so without hurting the whole family...which they do despite their best efforts.

The resolution to everything is both sweet and poignant, and it really captures the heartache that love often causes. Just about every scene in this film is quiet and understated, and the last shot of Binoche is enough to give even the most cynical viewer renewed hope in true love.